THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY


Reptilia    Squamata (part)    Natricidae  

Terrestrial Gartersnake
Thamnophis elegans (Baird and Girard, 1853)
tham-NO-fiss — el-EH-ganz

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
Using genomic data, Hallas et al. (2021, Journal of Biogeography 48: 2226–2245) confirmed that T. elegans consists of three well-differentiated groups that conform to the three currently recognized subspecies.

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.04.10.13.42.10)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 1.22 MB

First instance(s) of published English names:
Large-headed Striped Snake (Eutainia vagrans: Cooper, James G., George Suckley, William Cooper, George Gibbs, Asa Gray, and John L. Le Conte. 1859. The natural history of Washington territory, with much relating to Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oregon, and California, between the thirty-sixth and forty-ninth parallels of latitude, being those parts of the final reports on the survey of the Northern Pacific railroad route, containing the climate and physical geography, with full catalogues and descriptions of the plants and animals collected from 1853 to 1857. Bailliere Bros., London, H. Bailliere;, New York, New York. pp.); Elegant Garter Snake (Eutaenia elegans: Cooper, James G. 1869. The fauna of California and its geographical distribution. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 4():61-81); Common Western Garter Snake (Eutaenia vagrans vagrans: Yarrow, Henry C. 1876. List of Skeletons and Crania in the Section of Comparative Anatomy of the United States Army Medical Museum for use during the International Exhibition of 1876 in Connection with the Representation of the Medical Department U.S. Army. Army Medical Museum, Washington, D. C. pp.); Boyd's Garter Snake (Eutaenia elegans: Yarrow, Henry C. 1882. Check list of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in U. S. National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (24):1-249); Wandering Garter Snake (Eutaenia vagrans vagrans: Yarrow, Henry C. 1882. Check list of North American Reptilia and Batrachia with catalogue of specimens in U. S. National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (24):1-249); Spotted Riband Snake (Eutaenia vagrans vagrans: Davis, N. S., and Frank L. Rice. 1883. List of Batrachia and Reptilia of Illinois. Bulletin of the Chicago Academy of Sciences 1(3):25–32); Large-headed Striped Snake (Eutainia vagrans: Garman, H. 1892. A synopsis of the reptiles and amphibians of Illinois. Illinois Laboratory of Natural History Bulletin 3():215-403); Elegant Garter Snake (Thamnophis elegans: Van Denburgh, John. 1897. The reptiles of the Pacific Coast and Great Basin: An account of the species known to inhabit California, and Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Nevada. Occasional Papers of the California Academy of Sciences 5():9-236); Wandering Garter Sanke (Thamnophis vagrans: Van Denburgh, John. 1897. The reptiles of the Pacific Coast and Great Basin: An account of the species known to inhabit California, and Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Nevada. Occasional Papers of the California Academy of Sciences 5():9-236); Cope's Garter Snake (Thamnophis vagrans biscutata: Van Denburgh, John. 1897. The reptiles of the Pacific Coast and Great Basin: An account of the species known to inhabit California, and Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Nevada. Occasional Papers of the California Academy of Sciences 5():9-236); Elegant Garter Snake (Eutaenia elegans elegans: Brown, Arthur, E. 1902. Report of the Board of Directors. Pages 5-22 in Thirtieth Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the Zoological Society of Philadelphia. Allen, Lane, and Scott, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. pp.); Klamath Garter Snake (Thamnophis ordinoides biscutatus: Van Denburgh, John. 1922. The Reptiles of Western North America: An Account of the Species Known to Inhabit California and Oregon, Washinton, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, British Columbia, Sonora, and Lower California. Volume I. Lizards. California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco. 556pp.); Mountain Garter Snake (Thamnophis ordinoides elegans: Van Denburgh, John. 1922. The Reptiles of Western North America: An Account of the Species Known to Inhabit California and Oregon, Washinton, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, British Columbia, Sonora, and Lower California. Volume I. Lizards. California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco. 556pp.); Wandering Garter Snake (Thamnophis ordinoides vagrans: Van Denburgh, John. 1922. The Reptiles of Western North America: An Account of the Species Known to Inhabit California and Oregon, Washinton, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, British Columbia, Sonora, and Lower California. Volume I. Lizards. California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco. 556pp.); Elegant Garter Snake (Thamnophis ordinoides elegans: Schmidt, Karl Peterson and D. D. Davis. 1941. Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. C.P. Putnam and Sons, New York. 365pp.); Great Basin Garter Snake (Thamnophis ordinoides vagrans: Schmidt, Karl Peterson and D. D. Davis. 1941. Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. C.P. Putnam and Sons, New York. 365pp.); Western Garter Snake (Thamnophis elegans: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Klamath Garter Snake (Thamnophis elegans biscutatus: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Mountain Garter Snake (Thamnophis elegans elegans: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Oregon Gray Garter Snake (Thamnophis elegans hydrophila: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Coast Garter Snake (Thamnophis elegans terrestris: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Wandering Garter Snake (Thamnophis elegans vagrans: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); Puget Sound Garter Snake (Thamnophis elegans vagrans: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.);

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
The Reptile Database
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Selected References:
1853 Baird, Spencer F. and Charles Girard. Catalogue of North American Reptiles in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Part 1. Serpents. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 2(5):xvi + 172
1903 Brown, Arthur Edwin. The variations of Eutaenia in the Pacific subregion. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 55:286-297
1908 Ruthven, Alexander G. Variations and genetic relationships of the garter-snakes. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (61):1-201
1950 Tanner, Wilmer W. Variation in the scale and color pattern of the wandering garter snake, in Utah and southern Idaho. Herpetologica 6:194-196
1950 Hebard, William B. Relationships and variation in the garter snakes, genus, Thamnophis of the Puget Sound region of Washington state. Herpetologica 6(4):97-108
1950 Hebard, William B. A dimorphic color pattern of the garter snake Thamnophis elegans vagrans in the Puget Sound region. Copeia 1950(3):217-219
1972 Baker, Robert J., George A. Mengden, and James J. Bull. Karyotypic studies of thirty-eight species of North American snakes . Copeia 1972(2):257-265
1983 Fitch, Henry S. Thamnophis elegans. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (320):1-4
1994 De Queiroz, Alan and Robin Lawson. Phylogenetic relationships of the garter snakes based on DNA sequence and allozyme variation. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 53:209-229
2001 Bronikowski, Anne M., and Steven J. Arnold. Cytochrome b phylogeny does not match subspecific classification in the western terrestrial garter snake, Thamnophis elegans. Copeia 2001(2):508-513
2002 de Queiroz, Alan, Robin Lawson, and Julio A. Lemos-Espinal. Phylogenetic relationships of North American garter snakes (Thamnophis) based on four mitochondrial genes: How much DNA sequence is enough?. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 22(2):315-329
2021 Hallas, Joshua M., Thomas L. Parchman, and Chris R. Feldman The influence of history, geography and environment on patterns of diversification in the Western Terrestrial Garter Snake. Journal of Biogeography 48(9):1-20

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Friday 06 June 2025 06:01 CT